HELENA, Mont. (NMB) – The Montana Farmers Union is advocating for a pair of proposed bills that are currently making their way through the state legislature.
House Bill 324 is sponsored by Democrat Frank Smith of Poplar, and would allow consumers to know where the beef and pork they consume is born, raised and harvested.
MFU President Walter Schweitzer says this bill would fix a problem that began in 2015 when the US Congress repealed country of original labeling requirements, thus allowing multinational packers to label imported beef and pork with a Product of USA label.
“As a result of (the repeal), these corporate monopolies started putting on a label that said Product of USA. And really, all you have to do to do that is bring the beef from Brazil and transfer it into a different package, and then they put Product of USA. So then the consumer goes into the grocery store, they look at the package of beef and it says USDA Inspected, Product of USA, and they feel confident they are buying US beef. When in reality, it could be from Brazil, Argentina, Australia, really nobody knows. We thinks that’s wrong. The consumer deserves to know where their food comes from, and that’s what we’re asking.”
Schweitzer says although has not spoken to a single farmer opposed to this bill, he is pessimistic that it will get through the legislation.
“The reason is is because even though it is in the policy got the farm bureau, and even though it is in the policy for the stock growers, their leadership lobbies against it. And they have a pretty good group of lobbyists, and they are well connected down in Helena. So they are encouraging the legislators to vote against the interest of the consumers, to vote against the interest of their own members. It makes no sense to me.”
HB 324 is currently in the House Agriculture Committee.
The other bill Schweitzer is strongly advocating for is draft legislation currently known as LC1562, the Agricultural Right to Repair Act. This piece of legislation would require manufacturers to make documentation, parts and tools available for repair of electronics-enabled implements of agribusiness.
“Right now, the equipment manufacturers refuse to share this diagnostic software and hardware so that you can fix your own equipment,” Schweitzer says. “Farmers are an independent bunch, and it you’re in the middle of harvest and you’ve got a combine down and you call your dealer and your dealer is busy, you’re going to fix it yourself, because you need to get that crop off the field. So without this diagnostic software, you can’t do a dang thing. All we’re asking is to require these equipment manufacturers, to provide at a reasonable cost, access to this diagnostic software and hardware. And I want you to know that my local dealer, who is a John Deere dealer, has done just that. He had to push hard with John Deere to get them to agree to do this…All we are doing is requesting that everyone does it.”
LC1562, which is sponsored by House Democrats Katie Sullivan and Willis Curdy (both from Missoula) and Senate Democrat Mark Sweeny (Phillipsburg) remains in the drafting process.
